CLINICAL INTERVENTION OF BADUANJIN ON ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION OF HYPERTENSIVE ELDERLY

Junfeng Wang¹, Feilong Wu^{1, 2, *}, Baoning Wang3, Mingxia Yao⁴, Ying Yan⁵

¹Department of Physical Education, Xi’an Aeronautical University, Xi’an 710000, China - ²Graduate School, Jose Rizal University, Manila 0900, Philippines - ³Martial Arts Institute, Xi’an Physical Education University, Xi’an 710068, China - ⁴Sports Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China - ⁵School of Physical Education, Hunan City University, Hunan 413000, China

Objective: This study used clinical trial intervention to evaluate the impact of Baduanjin health exercise on anxiety and depression of elderly people with hypertension living alone in the community. 

Methods: This study was mainly evaluated by clinical trial interventions. A total of 238 hypertension elderly people living alone in the community met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to the intervention group (EG, N=119) and a control group (CG, N=119) in a 1:1 ratio. The anxiety and depression levels of the hypertension elderly living alone in the community before and after the test were assessed by the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS-10) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15); Paired t-tests and independent t-tests (with 95% confidence intervals) were performed on the collected data by IBM SPSS 26.0 and the outcome variables for EG and CG were assessed. 

Results: there was no significant difference between EG and CG when comparing within groups (p>0.05); in contrast, EG had a significant difference before and after the intervention. EG and CG were found to have significant changes when compared between groups, with EG significantly superior to CG (p<0.05). The intervention effect of EG was significant. The anxiety level of the hypertension elderly living alone in the community decreased from before the intervention (62.99±15.50, Max±Mini was 100±55) to after the intervention (35.44±6.33, Max±Mini was 49±14); The depression level of the hypertension elderly living alone in the community decreased from before intervention (10.03±1.60, Max±Mini was 14±7) to after intervention (6.75±1.37, Max±Mini was 11±2). The changes in anxiety and depression in CG were slightly reduced by teaching mental health knowledge to the elderly living alone in the community. The anxiety level of CG decreased from pre-intervention (66.56±22.17, Max±Mini was 99±57) to post-intervention (56.19±14.32, Max±Mini was 89±42); The depression level of CG decreased from pre-intervention (8.99±1.67, Max±Mini was 14±6) to post-intervention (8.29±1.61, Max±Mini was 13±5).

Conclusion: The clinical intervention measures of Baduanjin's health exercise can effectively relieve and reduce the anxiety and depression level of the elderly with hypertension living alone in the community, and enhance their physical and mental health.